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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. capital — money
  3. bass — low music
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to click
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. root — of a plant
  10. root — of a word
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bass — the fish
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a tool
  20. stock — shares
  21. root — the cause
  22. file — a document
  23. stock — goods
  24. fan — a supporter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com